Chapter 282: Alliance
Editor: Atlas Studios
Although Hu Cai really wanted to say a firm ‘yes’, he still cowered when he met Mu Yangling’s eyes. “I-I was purely praising you, really!”
Mu Yangling snorted and looked up at her surroundings. She asked, “Why is everyone surrounding this place?”
Zhang Wu immediately went forward and reported, “Miss, this person wants to buy our sheep, but he’s only willing to pay two taels of silver for one. When I said that I wanted to wait for you to return, he wanted to snatch the sheep by force.”
“Nonsense.” Hu Cai’s pain subsided a little. Only then did he know that Mu Yangling was the girl Zhang Wu was talking about. He quickly explained, “I wasn’t trying to snatch anything. I’m buying it with money.”
“Two taels of silver for a sheep. Old Master Hu, you’re really good at doing business. I wonder if you sell sheep yourself. Let me know and I’ll buy them all.”
Hu Cai choked.
Xiuhong spat, “How shameless. Two taels of silver for a sheep. In Xingyuan Prefecture, what’s the difference between that and directly snatching it?”
Hu Cai glared at Xiuhong with hatred in his eyes. He hadn’t forgotten about that kick just now.
Not at all afraid of him, Xiuhong glared back fiercely.
Bowen also took two steps forward and stood beside her to help her glare at Hu Cai. It was now two against one. Hu Cai’s eyes were small, so he was the first to lose.
Mu Yangling had no time to care about them. She raised her voice and said, “I, Mu Yangling, am here to do business, not to make enemies. If you want to buy sheep, I welcome you. But if you’re sincerely looking for trouble, I’m not afraid.”
Behind them, after watching this scene, Butcher Qin felt that these three children were indeed impressive. No wonder they dared to venture out at such a young age. For a moment, he was excited and wondered if he should go out and adventure after finishing this business.
Mu Yangling had already turned around with a smile and invited Butcher Qin to look at her sheep. She introduced, “It only took three days for these sheep to be transported here from Xingzhou Prefecture. We have been feeding them fodder, so they’re still very energetic. If you don’t believe me, take a look.”
This was what Butcher Qin did for a living. After only randomly choosing a few sheep to look at and touch when he walked into the fence, he already knew the quality of this flock of sheep.
“Miss Mu, how many do you have in total?”
“239.”
Butcher Qin pondered for a moment. He couldn’t take so many alone.
“I wonder how much it’ll cost.”
“If you buy a lot, I’ll charge you 28 copper coins a catty, weighed raw. If you find it troublesome, you can go by number of sheep. No matter how big or small it is, it’ll be 4 taels and 500 copper coins each. What do you think?”
Butcher Qin shook his head. “This way, we won’t earn much. I’d only earn about ten copper coins for one catty of mutton.”
Frowning, Bowen said, “Uncle Qin, pork costs only 25 copper coins a catty. You can earn 10 copper coins per catty of mutton?”
“That’s true, but it’s also risky for me to buy so many supplies at once. Since I’m buying in large quantities, in order for neither of us to feel bad, let’s call it 25 copper coins per catty, weighed raw.”
Then the price was not even comparable to that in Three Springs County.
Xiuhong and Bowen were unwilling.
Mu Yangling also felt that he had bargained the price by too much. She shook her head and said, “25 copper coins per catty is too cheap. I’d suffer a loss at such a price. It’s not easy for us to travel from Xingzhou Prefecture to Xingyuan Prefecture. Moreover, with such a large flock of sheep.”
“Don’t go overboard. What about me?” Hu Cai shouted angrily when he saw that they were almost done negotiating the price. “I took a fancy to this sheep first. You have to wait for me to buy it before the next buyer gets his turn.”
Mu Yangling and Butcher Qin looked at him as if they were looking at an idiot.
It was obvious that this fellow was here to cause trouble. How stupid would they be to wait for him to finish choosing before starting the deal?
“28 copper coins per catty. Are you buying?” Mu Yangling waved her hand and interrupted him. “I don’t want to hear two taels of silver per sheep. If you want to go by number of sheep, it’s 4 taels 500 copper coins per sheep. Don’t you dare mention two taels of silver.”
Hu Cai looked at Mu Yangling in grief and indignation. Pointing at her with a trembling finger, he shouted, “It’s only right to bargain. What right do you have to stop me from bargaining?”
Mu Yangling said calmly, “But it’s not right to forcefully buy and sell. Going by the number of sheep, it’s 4 taels 500 copper coins per sheep. Do you dare to buy it?”
Looking at her disdainful expression, Hu Cai got rash and he shouted angrily, “Fine! It’s not like I don’t have the money. I’ll buy it all for 4 taels 500 copper coins each!”
The thug who was lying on the ground feigning unconsciousness could not pretend anymore. How much would it cost to buy 239 sheep at 4 taels 500 copper coins each?
He didn’t know what the total was, but he knew that if he didn’t stop him today, Old Madam would skin him when he returned tomorrow morning. When Old Master came back to his senses tomorrow, he would skin him again. By then, he wouldn’t just be punished by a dozen strokes for pretending to faint.
The thug “woke up” with difficulty. He climbed up and hugged Hu Cai’s leg, crying, “Master, don’t be muddle-headed. How many acres of land will we have to sell for this? If Old Madam finds out, she will claim our lives. Let’s give up on these sheep, okay.”
Hu Cai was filled with anger, but he didn’t dare to vent it on Mu Yangling. There was nothing he could do to the villagers either. He wanted to vent his anger on Butcher Qin, but when he saw Butcher Qin’s fierce expression, he decided to swallow his anger.
Just as he was about to swallow his anger, the thug pounced on him. That was it. His anger erupted immediately.
He kicked the thug’s chest and flew into a rage. “Dog slave, didn’t you faint? Why don’t you just die? And you guys.” Hu Cai pointed at the other four thugs who were wailing on the ground. “Trash, trash, all of you are f*cking trash!”
Mu Yangling was originally impatient to hear him pester her endlessly, but Xiuhong suddenly tugged at Mu Yangling’s sleeve. Mu Yangling immediately stopped talking and crossed her arms as she watched from the side.
Xiuhong and Bowen looked at each other, and Xiuhong gave Bowen a look.
Bowen said impatiently, “Hey, Master Hu, are you buying or not? If not, we’ll have to sell the sheep to someone else. We don’t have the time to waste here.”
“That’s right. You’ve delayed us for so long. That should be enough to appease your anger, right? If you continue pestering my cousin, she’ll be angry.”
“Who said I’m not buying the sheep?” Hu Cai turned his head and glared at the two of them, especially Xiuhong. He gritted his teeth in hatred, but his crotch was still in pain. Having witnessed Mu Yangling’s martial strength, he suppressed his anger. “Hmph, isn’t it just four taels of silver? I’ll buy it. Ding Er, go back to the accountant and retrieve 500 taels of silver immediately.”
Xiuhong quickly corrected him. “It’s 4 taels 500 copper coins each, not four taels.”
Hu Cai’s heart ached, but he had already said it, so there was no possibility of taking his words back. He could only stare at Ding Er, who was still hugging his leg, with a dark expression and say, “What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go back to get the silver.”
Ding Er was dumbfounded. Really?
“M-Master, there’s not even 500 taels of silver in the accounts room.”
“There is in Madam’s room. Go and get the bag of silver I took out yesterday and transfer it to the accounts.” Hu Cai was afraid that others would think that his family did not have money, so he said this in a lowered voice.